I remember it all very well lookin' back It was the summer that I turned eighteen. We lived in a one-room, run down shack on the outskirts of New Orleans. We didn't have money for food or rent to say the least we were hard-pressed when Momma spent every last penny we had to buy me a dancin' dress. Momma washed and combed and curled my hair, then she painted my eyes and lips. And I stepped into the satin dancin' dress. It had a split in the side clean up to my hips. It was red, velvet-trimmed, to fit me good and standin' back from the lookin' glass was a woman where a half grown kid had stood. 'Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down! Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down. Lord forgive me for what I do, But if you want out then it's up to you Don't let me down your momma's gonna help you move uptown.' Momma dabbed a bit of perfume on my neck and she kissed my cheek And I saw the tears well up in her troubled eyes when she started to speak She looked at our pitiful shack and then she looked at me and took a ragged breath Your Pa's run off, and I'm real sick and the baby's gonna starve to death. She handed me a heart-shaped locket that said 'To thine own self be true' and I shivered as I watched a roach crawl across the toe of my high-heal shoe It sounded like somebody else who was talkin' askin', 'Momma what do I do?' Just be nice to the gentlemen, Fancy. And they'll be nice to you.' 'Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down! Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down. Lord forgive me for what I do, But if you want out then it's up to you Don't let me down, Your momma's gonna help you move uptown.' Well that was the last time I saw my momma The night I left that rickety shack Cos welfare people came and took the baby. Momma died and I ain't been back. But the wheels of fate had started to turn and for me there was no other way out. And it wasn't very long till I knew exactly what my ma had been talkin' 'bout. I did what I had to do. But I made myself a solemn vow: That I was gonna to be a lady someday though I don't know when or how. I couldn't see spendin' the rest of my life with my head hung down in shame. I might have been born just plain white trash. but Fancy was my name. 'Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down! Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down. It wasn't very long a benevolent man took me in off the street And one week later I was pourin' his tea in a five roomed hotel suite. Well I've charmed a king, a congressman and an occasional aristocrat and I've got me a Georgia mansion and an elegant New York townhouse flat. Now in this world there's a lot of self-righteous hypocrites who call me bad. And criticize Momma for turning me out No matter how little we had. And though I hadn't had to worry about nothin' For nigh on fifteen years I can still hear the desperation in my poor mommas voice ringin' in my ears. 'Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down! Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down. Lord forgive me for what I do, But if you want out then it's up to you Don't let me down, Your momma's gonna help you move uptown.'
I remember it all very well lookin' back It was the summer that I turned eighteen. We lived in a one-room, run down shack on the outskirts of New Orleans. We didn't have money for food or rent to say the least we were hard-pressed when Momma spent every last penny we had to buy me a dancin' dress. Momma washed and combed and curled my hair, then she painted my eyes and lips. And I stepped into the satin dancin' dress. It had a split in the side clean up to my hips. It was red, velvet-trimmed, to fit me good and standin' back from the lookin' glass was a woman where a half grown kid had stood. 'Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down! Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down. Lord forgive me for what I do, But if you want out then it's up to you Don't let me down your momma's gonna help you move uptown.' Momma dabbed a bit of perfume on my neck and she kissed my cheek And I saw the tears well up in her troubled eyes when she started to speak She looked at our pitiful shack and then she looked at me and took a ragged breath Your Pa's run off, and I'm real sick and the baby's gonna starve to death. She handed me a heart-shaped locket that said 'To thine own self be true' and I shivered as I watched a roach crawl across the toe of my high-heal shoe It sounded like somebody else who was talkin' askin', 'Momma what do I do?' Just be nice to the gentlemen, Fancy. And they'll be nice to you.' 'Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down! Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down. Lord forgive me for what I do, But if you want out then it's up to you Don't let me down, Your momma's gonna help you move uptown.' Well that was the last time I saw my momma The night I left that rickety shack Cos welfare people came and took the baby. Momma died and I ain't been back. But the wheels of fate had started to turn and for me there was no other way out. And it wasn't very long till I knew exactly what my ma had been talkin' 'bout. I did what I had to do. But I made myself a solemn vow: That I was gonna to be a lady someday though I don't know when or how. I couldn't see spendin' the rest of my life with my head hung down in shame. I might have been born just plain white trash. but Fancy was my name. 'Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down! Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down. It wasn't very long a benevolent man took me in off the street And one week later I was pourin' his tea in a five roomed hotel suite. Well I've charmed a king, a congressman and an occasional aristocrat and I've got me a Georgia mansion and an elegant New York townhouse flat. Now in this world there's a lot of self-righteous hypocrites who call me bad. And criticize Momma for turning me out No matter how little we had. And though I hadn't had to worry about nothin' For nigh on fifteen years I can still hear the desperation in my poor mommas voice ringin' in my ears. 'Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down! Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down. Lord forgive me for what I do, But if you want out then it's up to you Don't let me down, Your momma's gonna help you move uptown.'
